Adenoids (pharyngeal tonsils) and tonsils (palatine tonsils) are involved in a number of diseases of the ear, nose, and throat including chronic otitis media with effusion (COME), recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM), adenoiditis, pediatric chronic sinusitis, tonsillitis, pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), adult OSA, and chronic strep throat. Lingual tonsils can also become infected and be problematic. Treatment for these diseases is primarily achieved first by use of oral medications or, in the case of pediatric and adult sleep apnea through the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Otitis media is most often treated primarily with ventilation tube surgery. Failure of these therapies is often followed by surgical removal of the tonsils and/or adenoids to remove them either because they are a harbor for bacteria or as obstructing anatomy. Complications related to these procedures include post-operative bleeding, dehydration, weight loss, peritonsillar abscess, torticilis (neck stiffness), regrowth of tissue, redo surgery due to incomplete removal of tissue, continued COME or RAOM, continued OSA, and occasionally death. Post-operative treatment has traditionally been limited to dietary limitation, rinses, and use of oral antibiotics to prevent post-operative pain and infections.
It has now been discovered that a polymeric film-forming medical sealant composition may be applied to the throat to provide multiple treatment and/or prophylactic functions such as reduction of bleeding, prevention of post-operative infections, tissue protection, reduction in pain, and the like. It is also anticipated that such sealant could be used in the throat, especially on the tonsils, adenoids or the post-operative adenoid remnant to treat otitis media, given the involvement in the disease.
Useful polymeric film-forming medical sealants of the invention may be applied directly to the affected area, are generally resorbable materials which may have residence times of one day or many days or weeks.